Okay, I have not replied to your stories in a while. I'm getting out of school after June 1st. So, hang on! I'll be trying to get in Anime cons from there forward! Okay! Must I need to say this? All your writings are epic, Alice. I always enjoy reading them. I'm looking forward to your next chapters. Take your time and no rush .

Aww I'm just loving all the support from you guys! I'm going to be working on the posting of new chapters over the next two weeks so keep checking in. I might even introduce a few new stories to the forum. It all depends on the time since I'm very busy during the day

AN: It’s been so long since I’ve finished another installment of this story; I have the outline written down so I just needed to find the motivation to write more of the subject. I’m not going to dilly-dally; here’s the next chapter of the story! I hope you all enjoy!

*Chapter Two*

The sound of rushing water awoke Josh from his unconscious state, a low grumble forming in his throat as the boy opened his teal eyes to the dreary sky above him. Sky? Wait, what happened to his room? Josh’s orbs went wide as he recalled his last memories before the darkness, the glowing red eyes and the chilling voice sending shivers down his spine.

“It wasn’t a nightmare?” Josh asked aloud, his fingertips digging into the dirt below his body. “It was real; I’ve been kidnapped!”

Josh shot up into a sitting position, the boy feeling a wave of dizziness at his quick movements. He slumped back onto his elbows as he tried to regain his composure, a gulp settling in his throat as his eyes scanned the world around him.

The landscape was a dismal land shattered into many jagged rocks, a murky river flowing near the boy’s body down towards a towering forest. The sky above was dark with swirling clouds, reminding Josh of when a tornado was about to form and kiss the ground below. There was no sign of the Hill residence there; there was no sign of any life form.

The boy was meant only by the sound of the rushing river, Josh biting his lip to hold back his tears as he tried to understand his next move. He had always wished for some sort of adventure but he had never expecting something so terrifying to happen to him. At that moment, Josh felt regret for ever cursing his life with his parents; at least there was some sort of familiarity there as well as a way for him to know he was safe. Josh was all alone in some strange land after being kidnapped by terrifying creatures that he knew nothing about; what was he supposed to do now?

“A boy?” A voice questioned from behind Josh, the boy throwing his hands over his mouth to keep from screaming out. “It’s a human boy!”

“A-A human boy?” Another voice stuttered, his tone somewhat excited at the news. “Another has come; there’s hope after all!”

Josh reached forward and grabbed hold of a large stone, wasting no time in turning his body and throwing the makeshift weapon towards where he heard the voices. There was a yelp of pain from the first voice but Josh wasted no time to see who it was; he had managed to get to his feet and was bolting towards the forest below.

“He’s getting away!” The second voice gasped, the first voice seeming to whimper at Josh’s attack. “We can’t let him get away; come on Bruno!”

“But he hurt me!” The one called Bruno said with a sniff. “He’s mean, Bates!”

“Gah, don’t do this now!” The one called Bates whined, Josh unsure of what was going on behind him. “Ugh, fine; I’ll get the boy!”

Josh urged his legs to go faster as he stumbled down the rocks towards the forest, understanding he was now being pursued. He had no idea what this ‘Bates and Bruno’ wanted; however, he wasn’t about to stop and ask them.

“Wait a minute boy!” Bates called out, sounding much closer than Josh anticipated. “Come back; you shouldn’t go down there!”

“Leave me alone!” Josh cried out, trying his best to keep his footing on the rocks though it was proving to be very difficult. “I just want to go home!”

“Your home’s not that way!” Bates replied, a hand wrapping around Josh’s wrist before the boy could trip himself and slide down the jagged path before him. “You’ll get yourself killed if you go down that way.”

“K-killed?” Josh stuttered at the word, his eyes wide as he took a deep gulp. He glanced over at his wrist, the hand grasping him dirty and clawed. It was another creature; though this one seemed almost human. The one called Bates stood behind him, a bit taller than Josh with matted brown hair grown to his shoulders and over his yellowish orbs. He had fangs in his mouth and a pair of horns atop his head; his left horn was actually broken off leaving a jagged piece left in its place. “Wh-what are you?”

Bates seemed to grin at the question as he pulled Josh back and sat him down on one of the taller rocks, the creature then digging his clawed hand into his jeans pocket and pulling out what looked like a leather wallet. Josh followed the creature’s moves in shock, amazed to find Bates wearing clothes similar to what the teenagers in his neighborhood wore.

“Sorry for scaring you; my name’s Bates,” the creature answered as he opened up the leather wallet, holding it out towards Josh to show a picture of a human boy and what seemed to be his girlfriend hugging each other on the beach. “Dylan Bates; this is me when I was-well, normal.”

“N-normal?” Josh questioned, taking the wallet to study the photo he had been shown. His teal eyes switched between the photo and the creature before him, Josh beginning to eliminate the monstrous features that had befallen Bates. The younger boy let out a gasp as he saw the resemblance, glancing back at Bates in shock. “You’re a human too?”

“I was human; stuff happened to change all that,” Bates grumbled at the term being spouted, quickly retrieving his wallet and pocketing it. “If you haven’t guessed yet, this is not the world you know and love; you were brought here by those monsters weren’t you?”

“Not my world? Are you serious?” Josh said as he gulped, his hands resting on his knees as he tried to come to terms with what was being said. “I remember red eyes in my room and someone grabbing me; I also remember this terrifying voice that said something along the lines of being ‘the boy they were looking for’.”

“They went on another hunt,” Bates whispered, nodding in understanding before glancing over his shoulder. “One second; Hey Bruno, get down here!”

The loud sobs of Bruno were still in full effect as the rocks began to shake underneath Josh’s body, Bates resting a clawed hand on the boy’s shoulder to keep him calm. Over the horizon, a large mass of a furry-covered creature came barreling down the rocks with beads of tears forming in his beady eyes. Two horns were sprouted out of side of his temples, though he was more of a beast-like being than Bates.

“Bates, he’s the boy who hit me with the rock!” Bruno cried, his voice booming so loud that Josh almost toppled off his seat. “I don’t like him!”

“He was just scared, Bruno; I’m sure he’s sorry,” Bates said simply, his grip on Josh’s shoulder tightening as he nodded towards the creature across from him. “Aren’t you sorry, kid?”

Josh kept his eyes on the creature, studying his features to the smallest detail. How could such a terrifying-looking creature as this Bruno before him be sobbing like a baby because someone hit him with a rock? It just didn’t seem like the stories he was familiar with; monsters were vicious beasts that showed no fear when attacking the hero. But Bruno was acting like the victim of a crime, making Josh seem like the bad guy; this world was growing stranger in the boy’s eyes.

“Y-yeah I’m sorry; and my name’s Josh,” the boy stuttered as he extended a hand towards Bates, the teenage creature shaking it gratefully. “I’m sorry I ran away and threw a rock at you both.”

“You were scared; I’m not surprised by your reaction,” Bates said as he motioned Bruno to step forward, the creature inching closer to the duo with fearful eyes. “I must admit I had a similar reaction when I first ended up here.”

Bruno was then standing mere inches away from Josh, the boy’s form tiny compared to the massive beast before him. The creature lifted up his fur-covered arm and inched his paw-like hands forward, gently touching Josh’s other shoulder. The boy tensed up at the touch, fearful of Bruno’s claws; however, feeling how gentle the creature had been had caused his body to relax and accept him.

“You’re Josh; you’re a good kid,” Bruno muttered as he tried to smile, his fangs still making it slightly fearsome despite the sincerity in his eyes. “I accept your apology; you’re my friend now?”

The boy settled back onto the rock, surveying his situation fully with a sigh. There was no point in him denying them; they seemed to be friendly enough. He didn’t know where he was anyway so he was going to have a hard time fleeing in the end; Josh decided to give in and befriend the duo.

“Y-yes, I’m your friend now, Bruno,” Josh replied and the creature leapt into the air in excitement, cheering happily with gaining his new friend. “Just calm down; can either of you tell me what’s going on? Why am I here? Who were these monsters who took me? I’ve got so many questions!”

“Yeah I know you have a lot of questions but I can’t answer them here,” Bates said as he gave a defensive stance, his eyes scanning the area before frowning. “Bruno, we need to get him to the cave; can you carry him? The terrain is probably too rough for him right now.”

“I can do that,” the massive creature hummed before holding out his arms towards Josh, the boy staring at them in concern. “Come with me, Josh; we must flee before the monsters come back.”

Josh had little time to decline the offer before Bruno took the boy in his hold, throwing him over his hairy shoulder and leaping down the jagged path towards the forest below. Bates smirked as the young boy let out a cry in fear before he turned and followed after the two towards the forest. There wasn’t a moment to lose; somehow the monsters had lost hold of Josh and it was only a matter of time before they sent out a search party for the boy.

“I wonder if this kid really is the one,” Bates whispered to himself as they entered the confines of the forest. “I just hope he doesn’t turn out like me.”

AN: I really love the simplicity of this story; I’m actually writing this one as a story for my nephew to enjoy. I’ve been getting some positive feedback for it as well as some good constructive criticism; just like with all of my stories, I need to go back through and make all the necessary edits to make it a better read for everybody. I’ll eventually do that when I’m sure I have enough time to really sit down and go through the stories to make the edits. Anyway, I’m going to go right back into the story; thank you very much for reading and I hope you all enjoy!

*Chapter Three*

The cave Bates had mentioned was more like a underground home as Bruno dashed into the hole of the cave and down into the darkness. There were two beds, a kitchen area and shelves lining the cave walls with books; it seemed Bruno and Bates were doing pretty well for themselves despite living in a cave.

Bruno came to the larger of the two beds and sat Josh down upon the mattress, the monster grinning from ear-to-ear as he let Josh rest a moment. Bates soon entered the room, his heavy breathing evident from his speed as the once-human slid to the ground to calm his heart.

“Wh-What’s going on?” Josh stuttered as he pointed a finger towards Bruno, the monster shying away from the bed.

“We needed to get you somewhere safe so we brought you here,” Bates said simply with a frown before he nodded towards the bookshelves. “There are many stories that I’ve read during my time here; it’s been nearly three years since I was dragged into this hovel of a world and I’ve learned a lot about its past. I’ve also learned why I was brought here and why you were dragged here as well.”

Josh held his tongue to keep his many questions from flooding out, instead absorbing every word that Bates uttered to him. The boy was well-aware that this was not a dream and any information he could be given about why he was there was much-appreciated. There was a part of him though that did not wish to know why he was dragged into this strange world where monsters roam; he just wanted a one-way ticket back to his home where he’d never complain about his parents fighting again.

“It would take too long for you to actually read those books so I’ll just make a long story short,” Bates began as he settled his head against the wall, his eyes focused as he recalled his first moments in the world. “This world is known to its people as Darshadow; it is a world that was made centuries ago to shadow our own. It consisted of dark thoughts that manifested into the first creatures of this land; the monsters that brought you here.”

“The monsters that brought me here are different from you and Bruno?” Josh asked, Bates raising his hand to silence the boy.

“I’m getting to that; Bruno is considered one of the first generation monsters but he is considered a malfunction,” Bates explained as Bruno expression saddened. “There are actually several malfunction-type monsters in this world that do not align themselves with the dark thoughts that gave birth to them. Because Bruno is the way he is, he is shunned by the pure generation one monsters and he is constantly at risk of being killed by them.”

“I’m dead serious,” Bates retorted. “Now, I will explain why I am the way I am; I’ve already shared with you that I was originally human. It seems that every year the monsters are given word of a human in our world that is meant to be brought here. It is prophesized by the monsters’ elders and then the hunt is made for the human. They kidnap the human and bring them here to Darshadow where the human’s fate is decided. The human has two choices: fight to return to their world or linger here for too long and lose their humanity. They become the very thing that imprisoned them here; they become monsters.”

“Bates came very close to returning to his home,” Bruno piped in, the once-human’s eyes flashing with despair at his failed attempt. “However, he was unable to make it those final steps; he then became a monster.”

“When this happens, the human is supposed to have lost the memories of being a human,” Bates said with a frown. “They become a despicable monster that is swallowed with anger and despair; however, I somehow kept my memories and was able to fight off the darkness that aimed to consume me.”

“I believe it’s because Bates had so much determination and heart to make it to the end,” Bruno added. “He tried so hard and got so close to the end.”

“It doesn’t matter how close I got; in the end, I was unable to make it home,” Bates snapped, quickly shaking his head as Bruno glanced over in fear. “I’m sorry; the topic just stresses me out is all. Once the person’s transformation is complete, their gateway home is closed. I’ve not been able to go home because of it.”

The room fell silent; Josh’s eyes falling to his lap as he took a deep gulp. He recalled his book he was reading just before he was snatched; the hero of the book was a boy that had a spell cast upon him that turned him into a monster the longer he roamed the land of the monsters. The boy traveled into the monster’s world to save the princess, though as he continued on his journey he became more and more like a monster. The book had a happy ending though; the princess accepted the boy for who he was on the inside and they escaped the land together.

“There’s only one way to have a happy ending here,” Bates whispered, watching Josh’s every move as he spoke. He wouldn’t be surprised if the boy began to panic at the news Bates was delivering him. “You need to aim for the kingdom and find your gateway; as soon as you get through the gateway you’ll be safe.”

Bruno glanced over at Bates in disbelief, about to open his mouth to speak when his friend shot him a glare to shut him up. Josh noticed and stared between the two of them, understanding they were hiding something from him; however, he chose to leave it alone for now and focus on the matter at hand.

“How long do I have?” Josh asked, hoping he would have a long time to himself.

“There’s no telling; it’s different for each person,” Bates explained as he motioned to himself. “I only had a month; I’ve known some who have had nearly a year while there were others who only had a few days. It really isn’t how much time that you have though; it’s up to what stands in your way to achieve your goal.”

“Bates, we should-!” Bruno began again, Bates’ glare silencing him once more.

“Now, you need to get some rest, Josh,” Bates interrupted as he maneuvered over beside the bed and pushing Josh lightly down onto the pillows. The boy was about to argue but realized how heavy his eyelids were, Josh settling down and soon slumbering away.

“Bates, what about the other once-humans?” Bruno questioned with a glare towards his friend, Bates returning the glare at full-force. “Josh might be able to save some of them; you’re not seriously going to force him out of this world without doing his part to save the other humans that can be saved.”

“I saved several others and was left behind in the process,” Bates snapped as he remembered his journey through Darshadow, recalling every moment until his transformation was complete. “I will not allow this kid to waste away his chance at returning to a normal life.”

“But Bates – You’re planning on tagging along through his gate, aren’t you?” Bruno said with a frown. “You’re going to use the boy to get your own way; you just don’t want him saving others so that you can be saved.”

“I have no plans on tagging along through that kid’s gate,” Bates snapped in retort as Bruno gawked in surprise. “I don’t want him to suffer like I have; and besides, there’s nothing out there for me so why should I try to return there?”

“But Bates-.”

“That’s enough, Bruno; go to sleep,” Bates snapped as slumped back on his own bed and rolled over to face the outer wall, signaling he was done with the conversation. The larger creature wanted to argue but he realized it wasn’t the best time to do so with Josh snuggled up soundly in his bed; Bruno sighed and settled down on the floor and with much difficulty finally was able to sleep.